Non US-Citizen Purchasing Real Estate

i m a resident but not a citizen. the process is exactly the same as for a citizen.

"...building equity is always the smarter choice."

Tell that to the more than ten million households with underwater mortgages.

Non-citizens do not have to pay full cash. If you do not have any credit here, ask the bank/lender to retrieve your credit history from Canada, eh.

Transaction costs here are much higher than Toronto esp for condos. One big difference in NY real estat mkt is the concept of co-ops. Quite different from co-ops in Toronto and other cities in NA. Coming from Canada, it's prob not your first choice but do consider & look into it. Prop tax & common (maint) charges are much higher here. (Bonus: Mortgage interest is tax deductible.)

Based on my understanding of the mkt now, I am pretty sure it will cost you more to own than to rent. The cost of rent has not caught up to owning in NY. Everyone has their version of "building equity". If paying down the principal of a mortgage is considered as "building equity", then you may be on to something.

Good luck!

Here're some closing costs: http://www.corcoran.com/guides/index.aspx?page=ClosingCosts

You might have trouble getting past a co-op board, if your income is dependent upon a work visa that could expire or be rescinded.

Liquidity is slightly different for foreign nationals; when you sell, you'll face a withholding of part of your proceeds until the IRS makes sure that you have paid all necessary taxes. Google "firpta."

On the buying end, expect to be thoroughly grilled in order to get your mortgage. The lending climate isn't easy for U.S. citizens right now, let alone foreign nationals.

You won't, however, have to pay all cash. I recommend talking to Sunny Hong at Bank of America -- a lot of people on this board have enjoyed working with him.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

Mortgage Broker here. I used to deal with a bank that lends to foreign nationals. Not certain if they're still doing it.

Contact me with specifics if you like.

esfundingco@aol.com

BTDT - as a non-US-citizen on a work visa. 20% down (mind you, this was 10+ years ago, diff. lending climate), UWS co-op. Talk to a few banks and mtge brokers. Be up front with your credit scores and immigration status.

In similar situation. You will have to have around a 30% downpayment and you will likely get capped at around 1 million. Co-ops further complicate and aren't such a good option if your plan is to rent after you move. Rbc was an option to work with, but they were recently sold. Mortgages also suck down here and are more complicated with possibility of buying points.

I'm a canadian and just bought an apt in the city. I can tell you that if you are on an H1B or a TN visa the process is no different than if you were a citizen / greencard holder... other than you have to send a copy of your visa to the bank.

I can't help you if you are simply buying a piece of property from Canada.

canadians have it relatively easy as the banks "somewhat" consider them "americans".that doesn't apply to mexicans for some reason.
the real difference is not citizen/non citizen, but US person/non US person. A US person (perm res/citizen)has no pbs getting a mortgage (if they qualify/ income and assets). A non US person will face difficulty (they can always leave without legal jurisdictional recourse).That's why chinese/brazil/euros buy cash.
Buying in a negative real interest rate environment seems a very rational decision (and medium term potentially very lucrative)to me.
good luck.

There are a lot of options depending on your situation. Please feel free to contact me.
Regards,

Christopher A. Potter
Vice President | NMLS 153995
Direct 646.519.7551| Email cpotter@guardhill.com

I bought my first apartment when i still just was a US resident and it was EXACTLY the same process, but that was 1991- I don't know if the rules have changed since

I just went through this myself. My husband and I are both Canadians (from Toronto) I am a resident and he is on a TN Visa. There was no problem with getting a mortgage and yes you just need to send copies of the appropriate legal documents. The big difference from Canada is the tax witholdings upon sale (as already detailed above) and also the entire purchase process. It is borderline ridiculous. Here you put it an offer on a place but no money exchanges hands so anyone can pull out at any point (very different from Canada) they also have a variety of closing costs that are for the most part non-negotiable (again very different from Canada) the two big costs that are different are transfer taxes (which you only pay on a new property) and mortgage tax. I think our total closing costs were about 5% of the sals price. The one thing that is much better about the U.S. system is the transparency of previous sales prices for comps. Streeteasy could not exist in Canada.